by Connie Habash | Oct 20, 2025 | Autumn, Holidays, Seasons
It’s the season that ends the time of harvest – discover the meaning behind the harvest holidays from around the globe.
At the midpoint of autumn, we are struck by the unique beauty of this time of year. It’s wondrous to all, and especially children, how verdant green leaves change into gold, burgundy, orange, and brown. They fall slowly at times, drifting on a slight breeze, or in big clumps, leaping off the tree when a wind whips up. Other than perhaps the crunch of snow, there’s nothing like the crackle of dry leaves beneath your feet.
While winter offers snowflakes, spring boasts flowers, and summer is a time of joyful recreation, autumn’s finer qualities are decidedly different. This is a season that gains its beauty from death. The rich changing colors of fall result from leaves passing on. Autumn is the season of dying, and yet reaping as well.
The final harvest happens near the end of October. The fullness of summer is complete and the final grains, gifts of the earth, are taken from the fields. The remains are dry, done, and plowed over into the earth to renew her soil. The earth now has her well-earned rest.
Honoring the Final Harvest
Many cultures celebrate this end of the active farming season. The Saxons called this final harvest “Winter’s Eve,” and to the Celts, it was known as Samhain, “Summer’s End”, usually October 31st or November 1st. Samhain later developed into our modern-day Halloween. The Celts honored their dead on this day by offering food on the doorstep or an altar, and lighting a single candle in the window to guide their departed ones home. Death and life are intertwined as gratitude is offered for the abundance of the harvest, the crops die back into the earth, and those who have passed on are remembered by the living.
Samhain was transformed to Hallowmas (from which Halloween comes — Hallow’s Eve), or All Saints Day, as the Catholics influenced the traditions of the peasant people. All Saints Day (November 1st) commemorates the blessed souls who had been canonized that year and all saints, even those who remain anonymous yet lived pious lives. This is followed by All Souls Day on the 2nd, where the faithful offer prayers for the purification of the dead, especially relatives and loved ones. Throughout Europe and other countries around the globe, visits to the cemetery are common, placing lit candles and flowers on graves and remembering deceased relatives.
Harvest Celebrations Around the World
Perhaps the most festive celebration of this kind is the popular Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, honored throughout Mexico. A blending of traditions, including Catholic influence from the Spaniards and local influences from the indigenous peoples of the region, Dia de los Muertos is lavish and playful compared to the more austere European observances of All Souls Day. Mexicans celebrate their beloved who have passed on, as well as the continuation of life and children. In addition to welcoming the dead back to their homes and visiting relatives’ graves, families often picnic at the gravesite. Homes are decorated with large altars of items thought to please the departed, including offerings of flowers, food, candles, and items that remind the family of their deceased relatives. Dia de los Muertos is a varied cultural, social, and religious event throughout the country.
On the other side of the globe, in India, one of the most popular festivals of the year happens in mid-autumn: Diwali, the Festival of the Lights. The victory of light over darkness is seen through oil lamps illuminating homes night and day for five days throughout India. Light signifies goodness in Hindu tradition, so the lighting of the lamps represents truth prevailing over falsehood, wisdom overcoming ignorance, and love triumphing over hatred.
There are many legends associated with Diwali that follow this theme, but few know that this holiday is also a harvest festival, signifying the end of the cropping season. The clues to this origin of Diwali as a harvest celebration are in the traditional honoring of Lakshmi, goddess of abundance, at this time. Special pujas, or ceremonies, are done for her to ensure good fortune. In the rural areas of India, the last of the rice is now reaped, and delicacies known as Poha or Pauva are made from this grain. Diwali is seen to these farmers as a day to offer prayers and gratitude to the Divine for their abundant season.
Diwali brings yet another perspective to this final harvest time: the recognition that, even in the greatest darkness, there is an inner light that shines. Truth, Love, and the Divine prevail, especially when we turn our attention to that spiritual light rather than the growing darkness outside. And even when life seems precarious and death is near, the earth promises to renew again in the spring.
Reflections on Death, Trust, and Renewal
As Halloween and all these traditions remind us, mid-autumn is the ideal time to face our own mortality and to contemplate the meaning of death. We are palpably reminded of the impermanence of life as we witness the dying plants, withering flowers, and what were once verdant green leaves dropping off branches and slowly decaying into dust.
What does death mean to you? At some point in life, we all must come to terms with its inevitability and our beliefs around the meaning of passing. Whatever religious belief you may have about the afterlife, the truth is that we all face the unknown when we look into the face of death. This often brings up fear. But it also brings up the opposite of fear: trust.
Ultimately, death teaches us to place ourselves in the care of something greater. Whether we cease to exist after this life ends, journey on to heaven, or return in another body or another form, we can either choose to live in fear of that inevitability, or to trust the process. Just as nature inherently flows through death in autumn, knowing that it flows back into life in spring, you can trust that, as your body passes on and gives itself back to the earth, your spirit is reborn and renewed in a way you cannot yet fathom.
Autumn teaches us that it’s OK to let go and pass on, whether that’s an old way of living, moving away from our hometown, surviving a divorce, or graduating from college. Life is full of endings and beginnings, and the endings usher in, slowly but surely, rebirth. A divine order is in place, and although we may not understand it, we see it repeatedly through the cycle of the year and the events in our lives.
This time of the final harvest encourages us to live to the fullest while we can. Life offers us many fruits that come from patience and labor: tilling our potentials, sowing our dreams, tending to their growth with care, and then, at last, the harvest. We all have a great bounty waiting to be reaped, if we trust this perennial truth, and give this lifetime our full commitment and effort to uncover it.
May this season remind you to honor life’s cycles, trust the letting go, and welcome renewal. Explore Spiritual Mentoring to deepen your journey of trust and transformation.
by Connie Habash | Feb 20, 2025 | Clarity, Healing, Meditation, Mindfulness, Seasons, Winter
Whether cloudy or clear, wintertime can deepen meditation and heal the heart.
Clouds cover the skies like sheep’s wool, muffling the sounds of the birds and the passing cars. The overcast sends a shadow over my heart, evoking a little sadness and melancholy.
Yet it also dampens the noise in my mind, much like it softens the shuffle of people walking by on street. It’s a quiet that is expectant, like the silent and heavy rain clouds hanging overhead, not yet ready to drop their water pellets on the ground.
Quiet Cloudiness
This is so different than the quiet on a clear, starry night. That kind of quiet is spacious, vast, crystal-like in its intensity. That silence is almost deafening in its great expanse. It makes me throw my arms up and reach out to the universe, even though I don’t move.
This quiet cloudiness, however, is gentle, subtle, and soft, like a blanket thrown over my shoulders, wanting to wrap me up in its compassion.
Compassionate Clouds
It takes me inward, this muffled silence of the winter clouds, and makes me want to cry, just like the clouds want to let go of their rain. These clouds bring out what is hanging heavy in my heart, even if I don’t really know what it is. I can feel it, nevertheless, and long for the rivulets to flow down my cheeks, to unburden the old grief that I’ve allowed to hang out somewhere inside myself.
This is a healing, inward kind of quiet. A compassionate Cloudiness.
Clarity Revealed
The next morning, I wake and descend the dark stairs to my altar. Sitting on my cushion, out the eastern window I see the light blue already. Clear skies. The sun doesn’t take long to dust the horizon with a subtle pink, and the winter sun rises from his nap behind days of the wool cloud-blanket.
Clarity streams into my head and heart. It is a light day, and hope arises over the hills. My heart lifts with the sun.
Renewal
Even in the midst of winter, the signs of renewal are everywhere, including the sun itself. No matter the dark night or day, life comes again. After our hearts empty out in the melancholy of the darkness, they rise up from the soil and send out new shoots into life.
My heart now has more room. The tears I shed watered the flowers that will arise from those bulbs in the ground.
Let Winter Heal You and Deepen You
Make the room in your heart for meditation in the winter. Meditation isn’t always sitting and watching your breath, or chanting a mantra. Sometimes, it is a time to sit with what lies in the heart space and to feel it: without judgment, attachment, or disdain.
Winter offers the opportunity to have quiet time with yourself. If you allow whatever lies within to release from its confines, new growth can burst through, like the first shoot breaking through the casing of the seed. Let the tears, the joy, the worry, the past –whatever — flow through and out, making space for the greater potential that wants to germinate and expand within you.
Winter does its healing on all of us. Trust the process. Let the clouds hang where they are, and know that the sun does come out. When the sky clears, you’ll see it like you haven’t seen it for months.
by Connie Habash | Jun 27, 2024 | Ayurveda, Seasons, Yoga
After the ignition of the hottest season of the year in June, most of us now want to calm that fire a bit. Summer temperatures rise, and this causes real problems when our bodies become overheated. Nature, Yoga, and Ayurveda (the health science of India) provide us with helpful cooling remedies for body and mind – often through the element of water.
Water-laden fruits and vegetables are available now to help quench the body’s thirst, and Ayurveda encourages us to eat what’s in season to balance our bodies and minds. Many of us love the taste and experience of cold watermelon on a hot summer’s day. Sweet melons are known to be some of the most cooling foods one can eat. Just remember to eat them alone – melons digest so quickly that they cause indigestion when mixed with other foods that are slower to break down, and can cause toxins to be created in the colon.
It’s no secret that we should be drinking plenty of water itself to keep our inner coolant flowing. We know that if our cars run out of water or coolant, some big damage results from overheating. Make sure you’re taking care of your own internal combustion system and balancing it with plenty of filtered or bottled water.
In India, one of the most refreshing drinks I experienced was fresh coconut water, right from the coconut tree. It’s hard to find the same quality of coconut here in the US, but if you do and can crack open one without spilling the milk, it can go a long way to soothing an overheated body. So can fresh lime-ade. Lime is known to be more cooling than lemon: add some fresh lime juice to water, put in cane sugar or honey to taste, and you have another great cooling option.
For vegetables, sweet and water-laden choices like winter and summer squash, zucchini, sweet potato, and pumpkin are cooling according to Ayurveda. Veggies can be lightly sauteed in olive oil or steamed for easier digestion. But at this time of year, digestive fire is so high that you can also enjoy many salads and fresh, raw veggie snacks, such as carrots, cucumber, and celery to keep you cool. Essentially, even if we are of other body-mind types, when we’re overheated in the summer, following a Pitta-calming diet (Pitta is the body/mind type closely related to the fire element) as recommended in Ayurveda is helpful for most of us.
Some people experience accumulated heat from the day during the evening, often before bed, and can feel feet, hands, and even the face or other parts of the body hot and swollen. Cool foot baths, washing down the face and body with a cold, wet wash cloth, and wearing a wet t-shirt to bed in extreme heat help lower temperatures and improve sleep on those hot summer nights.
Some cooling choices for yoga practice? Think expansion and openness. Compression tends to heat things up (think about pressure cookers!), so postures that gently and passively open the body help cool it down. You can set up a supported Bridge Pose to help release excess heat from the mid-torso region, where it tends to accumulate in the body. Fold a couple blankets so they are long and slightly narrow (but wide enough to cover the width of your back) and lie over them. Slide your shoulders softly onto the floor, until the chest and stomach are receiving a gentle backbend opening. Keep your knees bent to release the low back and keep it neutral.
Wide-leg forward bends help release heat from the body and calm the mind. This includes seated and standing variations of wide-leg forward bends, such as Prasarita Padottanasana (standing) and Upavistha Konasana (seated angle). In general, avoid overheating through your practice!
At the end of your day, you may find it helpful to release the blood and stress that can build up heat in the feet by taking the legs up the wall, into Viparita Karani. This can be done by sitting with one hip against the wall, then turning onto your back as you swing the legs up against the wall. Scoot away from the wall to whatever degree it’s necessary to allow the legs to straighten easily. Then, enjoy the release of pressure in the feet and the reversal of circulation, which can rejuvenate, cool, and calm body and mind. Remember that heat tends to expend our energies, so any restorative poses are generally good at replacing those lost resources from the blazing day.
As you go off to sleep, imagine a cool shower of water, a trickle or a refreshing waterfall, flowing down over you from head to toe, washing out not only the heat but anything you want to let go of, leaving you refreshed and relieved. Let it wash away thoughts, emotions, and worries, allowing inner and outer coolness to prevail.
Thank the water element for giving you this wonderful, cooling reprieve as we continue our journey through summertime.
If you enjoyed this post, you might like practicing my yoga chakra series, moving through all the elements!
Level 1 Chakra Series
Level 2 Chakra Series
by Connie Habash | Apr 19, 2024 | Openness, Seasons, Spring
Spring is the season of opening – allow yourself to unfold like the flowers around you.
By now, the aliveness of springtime is bursting everywhere. I am astounded, every year, at the glory of the flowers opening around us. The colors, the fragrance, the bees buzzing, and the birdsong fill the air with that essential aliveness. Spring is about that aliveness in each of us.
Spring is very much about opening. The flowers open their buds, the chicks hatch out of their eggs… and we’re opening to new ideas, new energies, new adventures.
Our hearts can powerfully open at this time of year, bringing us deeper into connection with others, with ourselves, and with our sense of the Divine.
Our minds can open to imagination, to new ways of perceiving the world, and to new directions that life can take us.
What a great time to be encouraging our bodies to open – whether through yoga, a few laps in the swimming pool, a hike in the green hills, or a spontaneous dance in the living room! But only if we’re willing and aware of the potentials waiting inside to blossom, will we open.
What is waiting inside you to blossom? Is there a door that’s patiently beckoning you to open it and step inside (or outside)? Is there something you’ve always wanted to try that’s tapping you on the shoulder? Have you been resisting a new idea or way of doing something? How about simply opening to the unexpected? Let yourself be receptive to the positive energies of spring and what they might bring into your life, even if you haven’t a clue what that might be.
There’s a wonderful song that I’d like to quote, to keep in mind for the magic of this time: “I am opening up in sweet surrender to the luminous love-light of the One.” This is a beautiful affirmation to play with during spring.
Affirm your openness to the Divine, let go of your defenses & resistance, and know that the energy of Spirit leads you to something far better than you can imagine. Allow yourself to open like the brightly unfolding petals of a flower. May springtime bring inspiration, love, and light into your life in a wondrous way!
by Connie Habash | Oct 5, 2023 | Autumn, Balance, Centered, Seasons
Autumn brings changes – from the thermometer to the inner self. At the Autumn Equinox, the point of equal days and nights that initiates the growing darkness of fall, we are called to look into ourselves and find a new inner balance.
While summer called for activity, play, and exuberance, fall asks us to let go and turn to more subtle past times. It’s a season for reflection, release, and quiet meditation. We may not be ready to leap into more inward practices yet, but it is time to find a more appropriate balance in our lives by letting go of some of the outward manifestation of summer and integrating more personal time for self-nurturance and introspection.
An appropriate pose to explore this sense of a balanced life is Tree Pose, Vrikshasana. Any posture that requires you to stand on one leg teaches you the intricacies of balance. What I love about Tree Pose in the Fall is the sense of steady grounding and centering in this simplest of one-leg balances, and of course the perfect metaphor for a season known for changes of foliage!
Stand in Tadasana, Mountain Pose. Feel your stability here before you shift your weight to your right leg. Steady your outer structure, like your outward activities, by stabilizing your foundation and rooting into the earth through the bones of the standing leg. Spread the toes, and hug in around the ankle, feeling a firmness that supports you. Draw the belly in, giving the back stability, too. Then, as you’re ready, slowly bring the left foot up to where you’re able – the calf, inner thigh, or even just lifting the heel while keeping the toes on the floor. Root the foot into the thigh, just as the standing foot roots in the earth. Then reach the spine tall and let the arms rise up, too, like the extending branches of a tree.
The outer balance comes from the actions of the muscles, joints, and bones – the inner balance comes from your focus. Steady the gaze of the eyes on a fixed point to enhance your stability. Maintain a smooth, deep, consistent breath. Feel yourself centered in the belly, where your gravitational center enhances steadiness. And keep the mind one-pointed on concepts of balance, such as: “I am rooted and tall like a tree.” “I am balanced and stable.” “Steady, still, and grounded.” While we need the outer work of the physical actions, the inner work of the breath and mind is equally important to find our balance – both in Tree Pose and during the fall season.
Through the changes that fall brings, find your center point. Imagine there is stillness within you, like the axis of a wheel, that remains steady as the leaves turn and your life unfolds. Stand firm in that place when thoughts begin to whirl like a dust devil, and know that you always have inner balance somewhere inside, even when you don’t think so.
by Connie Habash | Sep 26, 2023 | Articles, Autumn, Presence, Seasons, Transitions
Autumn is a time of change and slowing down. As we move into this season, let it teach you about the gifts of transitions.
We’ve just passed one of the four cardinal points of the year – pivotal points that transition from one energy to another. The Autumn Equinox is one of those great shifts, where we move from the outward energy of summer and the longer daylight, to the inward energy of fall and the lengthening nighttime. This is a potent time to explore all transitions.
Much of our life is spent in transition. We commute to work or drive the kids to school, stand in line at the post office, and wait nine months for a baby to be born. Even going up the stairs or walking out to the mailbox; life is full of the process of moving from one point to another, from one experience into the next.
Add up all those hours and you’ll recognize that it’s a lot of time! Quite often, this is time we spend unconsciously: daydreaming, reminiscing, thinking about the movie we saw the other day. Sometimes, this time is occupied by worries, fears, indignation, righteousness, or imagining the worst. This creates tension and negative energy that affects both the transitional moments and the experience when we arrive at the destination.
Slow Down and Be in the Transition
While we are riding through this seasonal transition, going from warm summer days to cool autumn evenings, it’s a good time to slow down and practice more Presence in all our transitional moments. When you get up to answer the phone, take some deep, spacious breaths and walk with full awareness. As you’re driving to work, choose something uplifting or healing to listen to in the car. While waiting at the dentist’s office, it’s an opportunity to meditate, read an inspirational book, or feel your emotions and write in a journal (I usually carry these in the car with me for these waiting periods).
You have so much precious time to explore and make powerful use of that you may not have even noticed before! Not only to “make use of”, but to feel more fully alive in those moments.
Transitions in Yoga
Yoga practice is a great way to consciously explore transitions in body, mind, and heart. While on your mat, become very aware of your thoughts and emotions through the practice.
Particularly hone in on the movements into and out of a pose, or from a lunge back to downward dog. Does your mind wander off, project into the future; is it still clinging to the past? Bring it into the present moment by focusing on the breath, attending to the physical sensations, and remaining mindful of alignment and placement of your hands, feet, etc. Feel the transfer of weight as you step forward into a Warrior Pose, or as you arch over into Parsvakonasana, Side-angle Pose.
Open yourself to new awareness arising from this enhanced attentiveness. Your yoga mat will be your practice for your life – as you are more present while you lift your arms to the sky or arch into Cobra pose, you’ll become more attuned to the simple yet profound moments off the mat. Begin to look around not only at the road you’re driving on or the carpet beneath your feet, but start to feel what is happening in nature.
Notice the subtle energetic changes that happen during these transitions. You may discover profound new parts of yourself as you align yourself with these shifts in our natural world.
Autumn Reminds Us
Every moment of our lives is precious and valuable – the fall season reminds us of that, as life around us is beginning to hibernate, release, and let go. Make each moment count by becoming conscious even in those seemingly worthless hours you’re behind the wheel or folding the laundry.
Each transition is like a trip you’re taking, and we know that it is the experience of the trip that we relish, not simply the departure and the return. Recognize the amazing journey you’re on through this life, and make the most of the transformative process happening each second along the way.
by Connie Habash | Oct 1, 2021 | Reflection, Release, Seasons
It’s October, and we’re arrived at the fall season; the time of depth, release, and going within. The leaves are turning and it’s a time of letting go – but it’s also the perfect season for reflection.
Fall brings up memories. We even see this represented by the turned colors. The spent leaves symbolize the past, no longer part of the vital present as they become dry and decompose into the forest floor.
This is a helpful time to look back, not to ruminate or regret, but to reminisce with thoughtfulness (autumn is a time of words that begin with re-, meaning “again” or “backward”). We can reflect and re-evaluate the year and our lives, gaining awareness in the process.
If you take some time during the fall season to reflect on your life intentionally, it greatly benefits you. Old business can be resolved and released. New understanding can emerge. And we can clear the path within ourselves for the insight and clarity that potentially emerge through the winter season. Winter is the time we sit within, in the silence and stillness, to discover our inner essence. By preparing ourselves well through autumn – mentally, emotionally, and spiritually – winter will be a very transformative season.
Get a journal to write down your autumn reflections, and take a little time each day this month – or set aside a few hours on a weekend – to consciously review your life. Here are some good questions to reflect on in the autumn season:
What has happened in the last year in my life?
How have I grown?
What have I learned?
What longs to pour out of my heart, to be expressed, to be felt, to be nurtured?
How have I contributed to others and the world?
What has my past contributed to my present?
How can I bring past situations to a completion, for closure?
What communications still need to be made?
What is ready within me to release?
What positive qualities do I see within myself?
What am I grateful for (of course, for Thanksgiving!)?
You may think of some other helpful questions to explore. As you discover the answers within you, consider how you’d like to prepare for the year ahead, and what you want to invite into your life.
Honor the reflective time of year we’re in and you’ll find yourself attuned to nature, the seasons, and your inner Self. What do you notice in your autumn reflections? Share them here!
by Connie Habash | Oct 12, 2020 | Consciousness, Let Go, Presence, Receiving, Release, Seasons, Thoughts, Transformation
It’s autumn: the season to reflect. What better time to recognize the thoughts, beliefs, attitudes, and perceptions that hold us back, and use the energies of autumn to transform them through the 5 R’s: reminisce, reflect, review, release, and receive.
Science has discovered that we have tens of thousands of thoughts every day. Everything from the mundane, “oh, the light is turning red” to more profound, unique, abstract ideas.
But the majority of our thoughts, if we’re being honest with ourselves, are not novel or unique. They re-hash, over and over, old perceptions, attitudes, and belief systems that accompanied us from childhood.
Because they aren’t unusual or insightful, we don’t even notice these old, repetitive thoughts. Unfortunately, that means they carry a lot of influence on our mood, behavior, and reactions to life. They fly under the radar in our subconscious or even unconscious mind.
If we want to create change in our lives (let alone in our world), it’s essential that we bring to conscious awareness what thoughts are happening within us. We need to unearth what affects us under the surface.
Our Inner Sewage System
It’s like the sewage system: in our city, most of the time, we aren’t aware of all that poopy yuck flowing under us. But someone is – the people in charge of keeping the sewers clean, those who run the sewage treatment plants, and of course the departments that administrate all of that, all the way up to the city mayor or the county Department of Health.
I’m not going to spend my time or yours going into the details of all that, but the point is that there is a lot going on beyond our awareness that affects our well-being in the world, and that goes for inside our mind, too. Thoughts, like the sewer systems, need to be brought to awareness and either utilized or cleaned out. We need to have our inner head of the Department of Mental Health on the job to keep our system clean, spacious, and flowing with fresh, healthy waters of consciousness.
Since it’s autumn, the season of letting go – and allowing what no longer has life to decompose – it’s a good time to release, compost, and renew our thoughts and mind.
Autumn’s inward time supports work with the “re-” words: reminisce, reflect, review, release, and receive. These 5 “R’s” will help you become aware of what thoughts you’re having, where they have come from, and how to change and release them, leaving you with a renewed perspective. Take a little time to look inside yourself – and break out a journal if you can – to experience some transformation in your mind.
Reminisce
Autumn is a great time to look back on life. There’s something about the falling leaves that always has me think about the past. If you have become aware of certain thoughts that are causing you trouble – such as thoughts of self-doubt, for example – you can be sure that one or more events in your past initiated that train of thought.
Look back to the earliest time you can remember feeling that way. Journal about it – what happened, who was there, how did you feel, and what conclusions did you come to?
Reflect
Now, take your recalled memory a little deeper, and reflect on what happened as a result of that. If you were to sum up that issue in one sentence of what you believed about yourself or life, what would it be? Write it down.
Reflect also on all the ways in which that belief has played out in your life. Consider how it affected your decision making, and influenced the way you perceived others, situations, and yourself. Again, journal your reflections and insights about this belief (and you may unearth “corollaries” to that belief that branched off into other areas of your life and reinforced it).
Review
Now, look at your beliefs that you have identified. Consider viewing the situations that initiated them from a different perspective. Did you misinterpret something and lived off of that conclusion? Were the other people involved only reacting from their unconscious beliefs, rather than actually seeing and understanding you? Were you unnecessarily hard on yourself? Did you absorb the beliefs of a parent or other influential person in your life without recognizing you had other choices?
Re-view: consider a new point of view that leads to a different conclusion and a more helpful belief. I find that Byron Katie’s “The Work” is really helpful and powerful here. She uses a practice called “the turnaround” that gives a very different perspective on a belief.
For example, you might have the belief, “Everyone demands so much of me.” You’d probably be a very busy individual, with a lot of people that depend on you. But with the turnaround, you may realize something else is going on besides a bunch of people grabbing all yourr energy and attention. In fact, it may not be true at all. With the turnaround, you shift the thought into its opposite, and often it reveals something more true than the original belief.
You could turn around a belief like this – “Everyone demands so much of me” – in a variety of ways:
- No one demands so much of me – how many people are directly asking for things and expecting them? With a reality check, maybe not so many.
- Everyone demands so little of me – perhaps they aren’t asking for anything, but you keep yourself incredibly busy in order to feel special and needed?
- I demand so much of me – You might be extremely self-critical, and you’re the one putting all the pressure on yourself, not anyone else
- I demand so little of everyone else – Are you taking on things for others that you don’t need to? Are you being codependent and doing things for others that they should do for themselves?
After doing a turnaround, you re-view – you discover a fresh perspective. You can choose a new belief about yourself and life that works better for you.
Release
Finally, just like the trees do with their foliage, consider releasing the thoughts altogether. It’s much easier to let go of unhealthy thoughts and beliefs when you’ve gone through the process of reminisce, reflect, and review, because it takes the mystery and power out of them. Now, you’re just seeing them as a thought and not “the way that it is.”
Ultimately, none of the thoughts are true – they are simply different ways to perceive and react. Just like the leaves, at one point in your life they probably served a purpose, but that time is long over. Thoughts should be used to serve a helpful purpose, and then released so that new inspiration can flow.
Have some fun with releasing thoughts – write them on little pieces of paper, and then do a “burning bowl” ceremony (but remember to be safe – have some water nearby to put out the fire!). You can burn them over a sink, if you wish. As you watch the paper go up in flame, imagine all of those beliefs and perceptions disappear in the smoke, leaving you with clarity and peace.
The practice of Presence, too, helps to release our thinking mind, open our hearts, and come fully into this moment. Rather than telling the thoughts to go away (that doesn’t usually work so well!), shift your attention to what is right here, right now. Use your 5 senses to help you discern that.
Chances are good that none of those thoughts are happening right now. And even if they are – if you’re seeing an apple in a tree and telling yourself, “there’s a green apple on that branch”, the thought is not the same thing as the reality. You can’t bite into a thought like you can that apple. Be Present, with a quiet mind and open heart, right there with the apple. See it; perhaps touch it and smell it. Just sit there with it, releasing the thoughts about it and keep turning your attention back to the apple. Sooner or later, the mind quiets down and immerses in the object of your attention.
Receive
Releasing thoughts renews your energy and allows you to receive that energy back. Imagine leaves, dropped from the trees above, composting on the forest floor. All of that compost returns nutrients to the soil, which continue to support the life of the ecosystem. When you let go of thoughts, you receive back all the energy you were expending on them. Releasing unnecessary, unhelpful beliefs and attitudes recharges your body and mind. That’s some powerful thought composting!
When you release the thoughts that no longer support you, you’ll also discover some inner spaciousness. There’s a feeling of ease. In that spaciousness within us, we can receive the blessings that life offers us.
When we practice Presence, it is more than just being there with the apple; it’s receiving the apple’s Presence with you. Everything in life offers us something in the present moment. The apple is already Present: it’s simply being itself. Fully. No thoughts in the way of just being. Receive that gift of Presence, and feel how Presence is two-way: it’s a flowing connection with All That Is.
Remember!
So while you’re enjoying the changes of the fall season, remember to change your mind, too. Bring those unconscious thoughts, beliefs, and perceptions to the surface of your awareness. It’s the perfect time to transform them through the 5 “R’s”: reminisce, reflect, review, release, and receive. Allow autumn to support you in new beliefs and perspectives – or, like the leaves, let go of them altogether.
What are you discovering with the 5 “R’s”? Leave your thoughts here (pun intended!).
by Connie Habash | Dec 16, 2019 | awakening, Consciousness, Darkness, Enlightenment, Light, Seasons, Solstice
The winter solstice is near – a time when the sun is “reborn”, so to speak. We reach the shortest day of the year, and from that point on, the daylight lengthens and intensifies. This is the season of the rebirth of the Divine Light.
It’s no coincidence that the birth of the “Son of God”, in Christian tradition, is proximal with this “rebirth of the sun”. Historical evidence is unclear about the time of year that Jesus was born. Around 3 BCE, the church aligned the celebration to the European pagan tradition of Yule at the winter solstice, and began to associate the Nativity with December 25th. The jury is still out on exactly when Jesus was born; but it’s clear that the return of the Divine Light, however you want to view it, has been honored at this time of year for millennia.
The Jewish tradition also honors this spiritual illumination through Hanukkah, but recognition of this Divine Light was not limited to the western world. Turning towards the East, the Hindu tradition also honors the sun. There are some festivals that recognize the importance of the winter solstice, such as Pongal in the South of India. But more commonly, there is a daily ritual of respect towards the sun: Surya Namaskara.
Most of us who practice yoga are intimately familiar with Surya Namaskara, or Salutation to the Sun. Although the exact sequence and style of the poses varies slightly from tradition to tradition, it’s a recognizable series of postures that connect one to the other and is practiced with the rising sun.
Many don’t know that along with those poses are traditional mantras, or chants, that carry symbolism of the spiritual qualities of our home star. The winter solstice is a powerful and moving time of year to work with these mantras and reflect on that Divine Light that the sun so potently represents.
The meaning of these mantras reflect to us the qualities of this Divine Light, which is our Essence or True Nature within. As we approach the winter solstice (also know as Yule) on December 22nd, it’s worth meditating on this light of our Spirit and what it represents. Here are some reflections on these qualities of our Divine Light, inspired from the 12 mantras to the sun.
The Source of All
The Divine Light is within everything, including you and me. It is the Infinite Source of Life. Like the life-giving sun, it blesses us with birth into this lifetime and sustaining us through our journey. The Sun, as symbolic of that Light, is said to be a friend to all, giving every being warmth, life, light, and energy.
Shining
The Divine Light shines. It’s natural radiance is seen with our inner eye. Just as our sun beams in all directions, without judgment or discrimination, so does that inner effulgence. As we align ourselves with our Divine inner light and allow it to flow through and as us, it, too, shines everywhere as love, kindness, and peace. The more we open to receive and embody this Divine Light within us, the more we can touch others’ lives in a positive way by allowing the light to shine.
The Supreme Consciousness
Our True Nature, represented by this Divine Light, is Consciousness itself. Consciousness is oneness, infinite and everywhere present. It is our awareness of everything, most of all the Reality beyond what we experience in form. This Consciousness motivates us to expand beyond our limited perceptions and understand the nature of ultimate Reality.
Remover of Darkness
Light repels darkness. And so the Divine Light reveals the truth and dispels illusion, just as we are able to see what is in a dark room by igniting a candle. The Sanskrit word guru, referring to the spiritual teacher, embodies this quality, meaning “remover of darkness/ignorance.” For all of us, we have this inner guru in the form of the Divine Light.
Understanding of Time
The symbol of the Divine Light, the sun, is the source of our experience of time. We measure time the sunrise and sunset; we measure the seasons from the shift of the sun’s angle due to the tilt of our planet’s axis. This outer light creates the experience of time, while our Inner Light reveals timelessness.
Giver of Strength and Nourishment
As physical beings, we receive our strength and nourishment from the food we eat, the air we breathe, and the water we drink. Yet all of these, in some way, are related to the gifts of the sun. Plants (and animals, since they eat plants or other animals that do) are dependent on the energy from the sun via photosynthesis. All matter on this planet, including water and air, come from the same matter that composes the stars.
Our Essence, however, derives its strength and nourishment from that inner Divine Light. The more we connect with it through meditation, opening our hearts, and deep contemplation, the stronger in spirit we become.
The Principle of Creation
We have heard of the “big bang” theory, but what exactly is it pointing to? The ancient Hindus saw our creation as emanating from one creative principle, symbolized by a golden egg. Out of this, all in existence was created.
Our Divine Light within is this one creative Consciousness. We, as beings, are both created by that consciousness and manifest with that creative principle the more we awaken.
The Rays of Discernment
Through connection with our Divine Light within, we are given the ability to distinguish between what is Real and what is Unreal. The rays of light (whether from the sun or a lamp) can be directed by our attention to reveal the true nature of things. We begin to understand what matters and what isn’t really important through this power of discernment.
These rays remind us of who we truly are and reveal the false beliefs we have about ourselves. It is also said that these rays of light, whether from the sun or our Inner Light, are the destroyers of disease. Our greatest spiritual dis-ease is ignorance of our Divine nature, and these inner beams of Light dispel that.
Divine Children
That Divine Light is our Sacred Mother/Father. As it is said, each of us is a spark of the flame of God. Said another way, we are facets of the sacred jewel of Consciousness; one with that Source, yet each of us reflecting something unique as the facets reflect light from different directions. We are the Divine Children of the Divine Source.
Stimulating Power
The Divine Light embodies the power to stimulate, motivate, and inspire us. We are both spurred into action as well as aroused from sleep from the light of the sun. That Inner Light, however, moves us in deeper ways; it impells us on the path of spiritual growth, as well as bringing the light to others.
Our Vital and Sacred Energy
We all know that the sun is the source of our energy on the planet. Without it, our world would become frozen and barren. It gives us physical energy, but represents our vital energy as well.
We are all energetic beings, composed of atoms that are no more than fluctuations of energy and information. This energy we are made of extends beyond our physical body into what is known as the aura, or energetic field around us. All that exists in the universe vibrates with this energy. It is the Divine Light, manifest through the physical realm.
The Path to Enlightenment
I see enlightenment as a continuous journey of ever-expanding awareness and potentiality. We have infinite capacity to awaken to greater and greater consciousness, although some traditions believe there is an endpoint of “liberation.” Perhaps there is. But I perceive life as a path of unfolding joy and aliveness. The Divine Light is both the path itself and that which shines on it so that we can see our way forward. It is inspiring us to become ever greater expressions of spiritual Truth.
Time for Deep Reflection
Those are the qualities of the Divine Light. And now, through the solstice and into the winter season of quiet stillness, it is time to reflect on that Light within you. If you’ve dropped your meditation practice – or have long wished to start one – now is the time. Even if just for a couple minutes a day, sit, feel, and open to the revelations of your inner Light. You are like the lotus flower. As it rises from the mud of darkness and breaks through the surface of the pond of illusion, the Divine Light of the sun will open your petals to realization of your True Self.
For further reading: Surya Namaskara, by Swami Satyananda Saraswati
by Connie Habash | Mar 15, 2018 | Animals, Beauty, Hiking, journey, Joy, Life, Nature, Openness, Seasons, Trust
A couple weeks ago, I had planned to hike on a Thursday morning with a friend I hadn’t seen in months. We were looking forward to being together and venturing into one of my favorite forests at nearby Huddart Park. The forecast was for rain – not just a little drizzle. Did we want to venture beyond our comfort zone, even if it was pouring?
I was game, and so was she – what an adventure! Going outdoors brings me great joy, but there’s always an element of being uncomfortable. Will I get muddy? Will my new rain pants truly hold up? What if I slip and fall? How about the cold? Being in nature mirrors to us the fact that life is unpredictable and uncomfortable sometimes.
We met up and drove together through the windy road to the park entrance, then on to the grassy field near the trailhead. On with the jackets, hiking books, and mittens (yep, it was chilly!), and off we went into the redwood forest.
It’s hard to describe the sensations of joy I feel in the forest. It’s a physical sensation of heightened senses, elation, and ease all at once. The rain only served to intensify it, especially the feeling of ease. The soft patter of drops falling from branches and contacting redwood sorrel and other greenery below the canopy contrasted with the deep silence behind it. Peace spread through the woods, enveloping me in a gentle embrace that quieted my mind.
Oh, the smells! The rich, wet earth, blended with moist wood and decomposing bay laurel leaves intoxicates me. I instinctively inhale deeply, as if trying to taste the rich scent by drawing in more of the wonderful scents of the forest. It feels so fresh and clean, and deeply alive. I, too, feel deeply alive as we journey further down the trail.
Our hope was to spy a bunch of banana slugs – one of my favorite creatures to spy here in our local ecosystem – but much to our surprise, they were nowhere to be found, even in this very wet weather. But guess what was out in droves in their place: newts! We counted 5 California newts at various times on our adventure. They waddled across the leafy compost the way a toddler ambles across the living room floor, but on 4 legs instead of two. It was fun to catch a well-concealed newt in the act amongst the camouflage, like picking out Waldo from an eye-boggling scene.
And the earthworms! 10, 20, more… I lost count over our 2 hour jaunt. We took care to avoid stepping on them, sometimes 4-5 littered across the trail like long strings of confetti. I imagined they came out for a party from their underground cover, enjoying the newfound freedom in the rain’s shower.
At the bottom of the hill I was greeted by the creek, which was delightfully full, rushing over river stones large and small, tan oak branches, past fallen Douglas firs, and downward to join many spontaneous rivulets racing to merge in union. After crossing the stream, we chose a trail I had not ventured onto before to follow up the other slope.
It was rare that I saw birds in this forest – usually I only heard whispers of them high above us, atop the redwoods. But today we were treated with a dark-eyed junco couple directly ahead of us on the path. We stopped to watch in silence; and to await how close they would approach us. One hopped towards us, then paused to peck at the group; the second would then take a few cautious hops in our direction. Chit-chit, chit-chit they called to each other, contrasting with the soft sound of the rain. They came within 9 feet or so, then worked their way back in the other direction, eventually off into the brush.
Two hours passes in timelessness. We had put our cells on airplane mode, happily walking without distraction, without checking watches or thinking about “the world”. This was the world. This was alive, abundant, vibrant. Full of surprises and delights. Pausing for occasional downpours so that we could watch, hear, feel, and smell the gift of the rain. We didn’t need more than what nature offered us with every step, around every corner.
Kindly, my friend had packed some lunch for us, and we found a decent picnic table to sit down and eat, enjoying conversation and the drops that landed on our hoods and in our salads. Fresh food never tasted so good out on the land. I appreciated every fruit and vegetable, marveling at what nature provides.
My clothes? The rain pants were fantastic; my legs were cool but not wet. Water dripped off my rainjacket harmlessly onto the ground. My hiking boots held up fine. Just my fingerless mittens were soaked, easily rectified in the dryer back at home.
As we drove away and back into “civilization”, I was filled with gratitude. Nature fills me in ways that nothing else can. I feel Spirit alive in every rock, tree, and raindrop. I recognize that my needs are truly simple. What more do we truly need than this precious beauty, this flowing water, this bushy-tailed squirrel that eyes me as she eats seeds from a cone? The more present we are in nature, the more the mind becomes serene and we experience the Oneness with life that truly fulfills us.
Returning home, the aliveness of the forest was alive in me. I stood in the driveway and turned my face up to the clouds, feeling the drops on my cheeks and forehead. I am a leaf catching the rain, and nothing feels more grand. I was OK being a little wet, a little cold, and stepping into the unknown. Going past my comfort zone opened me to new joys that I hadn’t experienced before.
Feeling the call to immerse in the beauty of nature? Join me at my upcoming Women’s Spring One-Day Retreat or this fall for Mindful Hiking (coming this October)!
After the ignition of the hottest season of the year in June, most of us now want to calm that fire a bit. Summer temperatures rise, and this causes real problems when our bodies become overheated. Nature, Yoga, and Ayurveda (the health science of India) provide us with helpful cooling remedies for body and mind – often through the element of water.
Spring is the season of opening – allow yourself to unfold like the flowers around you.
Autumn brings changes – from the thermometer to the inner self. At the Autumn Equinox, the point of equal days and nights that initiates the growing darkness of fall, we are called to look into ourselves and find a new inner balance.
Autumn is a time of change and slowing down. As we move into this season, let it teach you about the gifts of transitions.
It’s October, and we’re arrived at the fall season; the time of depth, release, and going within. The leaves are turning and it’s a time of 
The winter solstice is near – a time when the sun is “reborn”, so to speak. We reach the shortest day of the year, and from that point on, the daylight lengthens and intensifies. This is the season of the rebirth of the Divine Light.
